When a customer applies for a job at a company and isn’t hired, their business can be lost if the company handles the rejection poorly. Multiply that by a few hundred or thousand, and you see why companies are taking the manner in which they say “no” more seriously.

Managers expected to “voluntarily” chip in to cover the costs of their employees participation at mandatory company social occasions are essentially getting n unannounced pay cut. What can they do about it?